Systems and methods for providing guidance for a robotic medical procedure

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method for generating and presenting an electronic display of guidance for performing a robotic medical procedure may include receiving a plurality of prior procedure data sets; receiving or identifying objective data defining one or more of a duration or a patient outcome of the robotic medical procedure; executing an algorithm to identify a pattern across the plurality of prior procedure data sets; receiving information about an instance of the robotic medical procedure to be performed in the future for a patient outside the population; automatically generating guidance for performing the robotic medical procedure; and generating and presenting an electronic display of the guidance for performing the robotic medical procedure.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. Nonprovisional patentapplication Ser. No. 15/154,122, filed May 16, 2016, which claims thebenefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/162,430, filed May 15, 2015, the entirety of each of which isincorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to providingguidance for robotic surgical procedures. More specifically, the presentdisclosure relates to collecting and analyzing data from priorprocedures to develop guidance for a robotic surgical procedure.

BACKGROUND

Medical practitioners may use robotic devices to aid in carrying outmedical procedures. Robotic devices may work in connection with acomputer system and other devices (e.g., components of a navigationsystem) to form a robotic system. The robotic system may receive andstore various information related to a specific procedure to be carriedout by the practitioner, such as information about a patient and asurgical plan. For a knee surgery, for example, the surgical plan mightinclude the type of procedure to be performed (e.g., total kneereplacement or unicondylar procedure), the tissue and bone modificationsnecessary to prepare the bone to receive an implant, and the type ofimplant to be implanted within the patient. The robotic system may alsoperform various functions during implementation of the surgical plan,such as tracking the patient and helping the practitioner modify thepatient's anatomy (e.g., tissue, bone) according to the plan.

Robotic systems may also acquire information during medical procedures.This information may relate to any number of characteristics of themedical procedure. The information may describe specific characteristicsof the implementation of a procedure, such has how long a certainportion of a procedure took, which tools were used during the procedure,or how a practitioner accomplished certain bone modifications. Theinformation may also describe characteristics of the procedure relatedto the patient, the environment, or other inputs related to theprocedure. For example, the characteristics may be the patient's height,weight, type of procedure that was performed, or operating room setup.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to, among other things,retrieving and analyzing information acquired during robotic medicalprocedures to provide guidance for robotic medical procedures. Each ofthe embodiments disclosed herein may include one or more of the featuresdescribed in connection with any of the other disclosed embodiments.

In one example, a computer-implemented method for generating andpresenting an electronic display of guidance for performing a roboticmedical procedure may include receiving, by one or more processors, aplurality of prior procedure data sets, wherein each prior proceduredata set: i) corresponds to an instance of the robotic medical procedureperformed by using a robotic tool on a patient within a population, andii) defines one or more of a location or a movement of the patient, amedical device, or the robotic tool involved in the robotic medicalprocedure; a force applied by the robotic tool; or a timing of a step ofthe robotic medical procedure; receiving or identifying, by the one ormore processors, objective data defining one or more of a duration or apatient outcome of the robotic medical procedure; executing analgorithm, stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium,to identify a pattern across the plurality of prior procedure data sets,the pattern describing one or more of a location or a movement of apatient, medical device, or robotic tool involved in the robotic medicalprocedure, a force applied by the robotic tool, or a timing of a step ofthe robotic medical procedure that achieves the duration or the patientoutcome defined by the objective data; receiving, by the one or moreprocessors, information about an instance of the robotic medicalprocedure to be performed in the future for a patient outside thepopulation; automatically generating, by the one or more processors,guidance for performing the robotic medical procedure, the guidancecomprising a recommended location or movement of a patient, medicaldevice, or robotic tool involved in the robotic medical procedure, forceapplied by the robotic tool, or timing of a step of the robotic medicalprocedure based on evaluating the pattern identified across theplurality of prior procedure data sets and the information receivedabout the instance of the robotic medical procedure to be performed; andgenerating and presenting an electronic display of the guidance forperforming the robotic medical procedure.

The method may additionally or alternatively include one or more of thefollowing features or steps: the duration defined by the objective datamay be a duration of a portion of the robotic medical procedure;identifying the pattern across the plurality of prior procedure datasets may include identifying an occurrence level of at least one of thelocation or the movement of the patient, medical device, or robotic toolacross the plurality of prior procedure data sets; identifying thepattern across the plurality of prior procedure data sets may includedescribing a movement of the robotic tool during a portion of aprocedure that achieves the duration defined by the objective data,wherein the duration is of the portion of the robotic medical procedure;the information about the instance of the robotic medical procedure tobe performed may include information about at least one of: a patient, atype of procedure, an operating room characteristic, or a user's priorexperience; the guidance may comprise a recommended timing of a step ofthe robotic medical procedure, and the recommendation may include arecommended order of steps of the robotic medical procedure.

In another example, a system for generating and presenting an electronicdisplay of guidance for performing a robotic medical procedure mayinclude a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions forgenerating and presenting an electronic display of guidance forperforming the robotic medical procedure; and one or more processorsconfigured to execute the instructions to perform a method including:receiving a plurality of prior procedure data sets, wherein each priorprocedure data set: i) corresponds to an instance of the robotic medicalprocedure performed using a robotic tool on a patient within apopulation, and ii) includes robot data obtained from a robotic deviceassociated with the robotic tool; receiving or identifying objectivedata defining or more of a duration or a patient outcome of the roboticmedical procedure; identifying a pattern across the plurality of priorprocedure data sets, the pattern describing a characteristic of therobotic medical procedure that achieves the duration or the patientoutcome defined by the objective data; receiving information about aninstance of the robotic medical procedure to be performed in the futurefor a patient outside the population; automatically generating guidancefor performing the robotic medical procedure based on the characteristicidentified by the pattern and the information received about theinstance of the robotic medical procedure to be performed; andgenerating and presenting an electronic display of the guidance forperforming the robotic medical procedure.

The system may additionally or alternatively include one or more of thefollowing features or steps: the characteristic of the robot data may beone or more of a location or a movement of a patient, medical device, orrobotic tool involved in the robotic medical procedure, a force appliedby the robotic tool, or a timing of a step of the robotic medicalprocedure; the guidance may comprise a recommended location or movementof a patient, medical device, or robotic tool involved in the roboticmedical procedure, force applied by the robotic tool, or timing of astep of the robotic medical procedure; the robot data may includeinformation gathered by the robotic device during the correspondinginstance of the robotic medical procedure; identifying the pattern mayinclude determining an occurrence level of the characteristic across theplurality of input procedures; the characteristic may be an order ofprocedure steps, and identifying the pattern may include determining theorder of procedure steps that achieves the duration defined by theobjective data; and the information about the instance of the roboticmedical procedure to be performed may include information about at leastone of: a patient, a type of procedure, an operating roomcharacteristic, or a user's prior experience.

In yet another example, a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium may have instructions thereon that, when executed by a processor,cause the processor to perform a method for generating and presenting anelectronic display of guidance for performing a robotic medicalprocedure, the method including: receiving a plurality of priorprocedure data sets, wherein each prior procedure data set: (i)corresponds to an instance of the robotic medical procedure performed byusing a robotic tool on a patient within a population, and (ii) definesone or more of a location or a movement of a patient, medical device, orrobotic tool involved in the robotic medical procedure; a force appliedby the robotic tool; or a timing of a step of the robotic medicalprocedure; receiving or identifying objective data defining one or moreof a duration or a patient outcome of the robotic medical procedure;identifying a pattern across the plurality of prior procedure data sets,the pattern describing one or more of a location or a movement of apatient, medical device, or robotic tool involved in the robotic medicalprocedure, a force applied by the robotic tool, or a timing of a step ofthe robotic medical procedure that achieves the duration or the patientoutcome defined by the objective data; receiving information about aninstance of the robotic medical procedure to be performed in the futurefor a patient outside the population; automatically generating guidancefor performing the robotic medical procedure, the guidance comprising arecommended location or movement of a patient, medical device, orrobotic tool involved in the robotic medical procedure, force applied bythe robotic tool, or timing of a step of the robotic medical procedurebased on evaluating the pattern identified across the plurality of priorprocedure data sets and the information received about the instance ofthe robotic medical procedure to be performed; and generating andpresenting an electronic display of the guidance for performing theinstance of the robotic medical procedure.

The storage medium may additionally or alternatively include one or moreof the following features: the duration defined by the objective datamay be a duration of a portion of the robotic medical procedure; eachprior procedure data set may include information gathered by a roboticdevice associated with the robotic tool during the corresponding roboticmedical procedure; identifying the pattern may include identifying anoccurrence level of at least one of the location or the movement of thepatient, medical device, or robotic tool across the plurality of priorprocedure data sets; identifying the pattern across the plurality ofprior procedure data sets may include describing a movement of therobotic tool during a portion of a procedure that achieves the durationdefined by the objective data, wherein the duration is of the portion ofthe robotic medical procedure; the information about the instance of therobotic medical procedure to be performed may include information aboutat least one of: a patient, a type of procedure, an operating roomcharacteristic, or a user's prior experience; and the medical device maybe a table supporting the patient.

It may be understood that both the foregoing general description and thefollowing detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only andare not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of thepresent disclosure and together with the description, serve to explainthe principles of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for providing guidance for a robotic medicalprocedure, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for providing guidance for a robotic medicalprocedure, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates input information related to an assisted roboticmedical procedure, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates output of a procedure optimizer, according to anexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow of input information from input procedures toa variety of customers, according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is drawn to systems and methods for providingguidance for a robotic medical procedure. In one embodiment, a procedureoptimizer may receive information corresponding to input procedures. Theinformation may then be analyzed by the optimizer to determine patterns.The optimizer may further receive input related to a robotic medicalprocedure for which the optimizer will develop guidance. The optimizermay develop guidance, based on the pattern and the information relatedto the robotic medical procedure, to aid in the implementation of therobotic medical procedure.

Exemplary Embodiments

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 2 for developing guidance for roboticmedical procedures, and FIG. 2 illustrates a method for developingguidance. The system 2 includes a procedure optimizer 10. The procedureoptimizer 10 may receive input procedure data 4 from multiple roboticsystems 5 (FIG. 2, step 210). In one embodiment, each set of inputprocedure data 4 corresponds to a completed or in-progress roboticmedical procedure performed by a user using a robotic system 5. In thisdisclosure, “user” is synonymous with “practitioner” and may be anyperson completing the described action (e.g., surgeon, technician,nurse, etc.). Among other components, each of the robotic systems 5 mayinclude a robotic device, a guidance module, and a camera stand fortracking the patient and other objects. The guidance module and camerastand (referred to herein as guidance components 24) may include screensfor providing output to a user. One or more of the robotic device,guidance module, or camera stand may store input procedure data 4 thatmay be retrieved by the procedure optimizer 10. Input procedure data 4may alternatively be stored in any other component of the robotic system5, or may be stored outside of the robotic system 5. The stored inputprocedure data 4 may be analyzed by the procedure optimizer 10 todetermine patterns of characteristics of the corresponding medicalprocedures (FIG. 2, step 220).

The procedure optimizer 10 may further receive information about anassisted robotic medical procedure (referred to as assisted procedureinformation 6) (FIG. 1; FIG. 2, step 230). The procedure optimizer 10may then develop guidance for the assisted procedure based on theanalysis of input data 4 and the assisted procedure information 6 (FIG.1; FIG. 2, step 240). In this disclosure, an “assisted procedure” refersto the robotic medical procedure for which guidance from the procedureoptimizer 10 would be relevant. The term “assisted procedure” is usedherein to distinguish the procedure the guidance is directed towards, orrelevant to, from the procedures and their corresponding data 4 used asinputs to the procedure optimizer 10. The assisted procedure may or maynot have been started or completed at the time the guidance is developedor provided to a user. Furthermore, the assisted procedure may be aplanned procedure that never actually takes places, a procedure that ispartially completed, or a procedure that has already been completed. Theoutput provided by the procedure optimizer 10, which may be guidancerelevant to the assisted procedure, may or may not actually be actedupon by a user, and if acted upon, the guidance may or may not in factoptimize the procedure with respect to a given metric.

Procedure Optimizer

The procedure optimizer 10 may be utilized to implement the variousfunctions (e.g., calculations, processes, analyses) described herein.Procedure optimizer 10 may include a processing circuit 12 having aprocessor 14 and memory 16. Processor 14 can be implemented as a generalpurpose processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC),one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), a group ofprocessing components, or other suitable electronic processingcomponents. Memory 16 (e.g., memory, memory unit, storage device, etc.)may be one or more devices (e.g., RAM, ROM, Flash-memory, hard diskstorage, etc.) for storing data and/or computer code for completing orfacilitating the various processes described in the present application.Memory 16 may be or include volatile memory or non-volatile memory.Memory 16 may include database components, object code components,script components, or any other type of information structure forsupporting the various activities described in the present application.According to an exemplary embodiment, memory 16 may be communicablyconnected to processor 14 and may include computer code for executingone or more processes described herein. The memory 16 may contain avariety of modules, each capable of storing data and/or computer coderelated to specific types of functions. In one embodiment, memory 16contains several modules related to medical procedures, such as an inputmodule 18, an analysis module 20, and an output module 22.

It should be understood that the procedure optimizer 10 need not becontained in a single housing. Rather, components of procedure optimizer10 may be located in various locations of the system 2 depicted in FIG.1, or even in a remote location. Components of procedure optimizer 10,including components of the processor 14 and memory 16, may be located,for example, in components of different robotic systems 5 or in therobotic system components (e.g., in the guidance components 24) of theassisted procedure.

The present disclosure contemplates methods, systems, and programproducts on any machine-readable media for accomplishing variousoperations. The machine-readable media may be part of or may interfacewith the procedure optimizer 10. The embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be implemented using existing computer processors, or bya special purpose computer processor for an appropriate system,incorporated for this or another purpose, or by a hardwired system.Embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure include programproducts comprising machine-readable media for carrying or havingmachine-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Suchmachine-readable media can be any available media that can be accessedby a general purpose or special purpose computer or other machine with aprocessor. By way of example, such machine-readable media can compriseRAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magneticdisk storage, other magnetic storage devices, solid state storagedevices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or store desiredprogram code in the form of machine-executable instructions or datastructures and which can be accessed by a general purpose or specialpurpose computer or other machine with a processor. When information istransferred or provided over a network or another communicationsconnection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combination of hardwired orwireless) to a machine, the machine properly views the connection as amachine-readable medium. Thus, any such connection is properly termed amachine-readable medium. Combinations of the above are also includedwithin the scope of machine-readable media. Machine-executableinstructions include, for example, instructions and data which cause ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purposeprocessing machines to perform a certain function or group of functions.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the procedure optimizer 10 further includesone or more communication interfaces 28. The communication interfaces 28can be or include wired or wireless interfaces (e.g., jacks, antennas,transmitters, receivers, transceivers, wire terminals, etc.) forconducting data communications with external sources via a directconnection or a network connection (e.g., an Internet connection, a LAN,WAN, or WLAN connection, etc.). For example, communication interfaces 28can include an Ethernet card and port for sending and receiving data viaan Ethernet-based communications link or network. In another example,communication interfaces 28 can include a Wi-Fi transceiver forcommunication via a wireless communications network. Thus, if theprocedure optimizer 10 is physically separate from other components ofthe system 2 shown in FIG. 1, such as the robotic systems 5, an originallocation of the assisted procedure information 6, or the components ofan assisted procedure, the communication interfaces 28 can enablewireless communications between the procedure optimizer 10 and theseseparate components.

Input Procedure Data

Input procedure data 4 is data corresponding to a robotic medicalprocedure performed using a robotic system 5. The data 4 may relate toany characteristics of the corresponding input procedure. Referring toFIG. 5, the input procedure data 4 may include, for example, patientinformation (e.g., biometrics, patient images, comorbidities, allergies,etc.), operating room characteristics (e.g., size, setup), pre-operativeinformation (e.g., a surgical plan, the type of procedure),intra-operative information (e.g., the performance of the procedure, howlong certain steps of the procedure took), post-operative information(e.g., final positioning of any implants), and/or information related toany devices used during the procedure, such as a robot. The data 4 mayhave been input into the robotic system 5 prior to a procedure (e.g.,manually by a user or by any form of data transfer) or may have beengathered, measured, recorded, or otherwise obtained by the roboticsystem 5 during the procedure. Robot data refers to any data 4 that wasinput into, measured, recorded, or otherwise gathered/obtained by arobotic device in association with a medical procedure that wasperformed using the robotic device. Data obtained during the proceduremay be in the form of log files, although input procedure data 4corresponding to a procedure may include log files in addition to otherdata corresponding to the procedure. In one embodiment, a set of inputprocedure data 4 corresponds to a single medical procedure performedusing a robotic system 5.

Referring to FIG. 1 and step 210 of FIG. 2, the procedure optimizer 10may receive any number of sets of input procedure data 4, with each setcorresponding to a medical procedure. In one embodiment, the procedureoptimizer 10 may receive sets of input procedure data 4 from severalrobotic systems 5, with numerous sets collected from each robotic system5. Each set of input procedure data 4 collected from a single roboticsystem 5 may correspond to a different procedure performed using thatrobotic system 5. In other embodiments, the medical procedurescorresponding to sets of input procedure data 4 received by theprocedure optimizer 10 may have all been performed using the samerobotic system 5, or each of the medical procedures may have beencarried out using a different robotic system 5.

The input procedure data 4 received by the procedure optimizer 10 mayinclude information indicative of characteristics of a correspondinginput procedure. For example, the input procedure data 4 from a certainprocedure might be indicative of a practitioner's technique formodifying bone or performing other portions of a procedure, how long acertain portion of the procedure took, the forces applied to a boneduring a portion of the procedure, or where certain components of therobotic system or people were located during the procedure, among manyother characteristics.

The input procedure data 4 may indicate a practitioner's technique formodifying bone, for example, by including log lines related to theposition and orientation of a surgical tool over time. The roboticsystems 5 may include tracking systems, which monitor the position andorientation of the patient and the robotic device, including a surgicaltool, during the procedure. The data 4 related to the position andorientation of various components may be stored in a log file located inany component of the robotic system 5, such as in the robotic device, ina guidance module, or in the camera stand of the tracking system. Thelog files, with data 4 conveying the position and orientation of thetool during a procedure, may be received by the procedure optimizer 10(e.g., by executing instructions contained in the input module 18 ofmemory 16), and may be analyzed by the procedure optimizer 10 (e.g., byexecuting instructions contained in the analysis module 20 of memory 16)to determine how a practitioner implemented a certain portion of theprocedure.

In one example, the position and orientation data may indicate that thepractitioner swept the tool from side-to-side to complete a certainportion of the procedure. A log file from a different procedure,however, may include data 4 indicating that the practitioner plunged thesurgical tool into the bone several times, instead of sweeping the toolside-to-side, to complete the same portion of the procedure. Thus, eachset of input procedure data 4 may be indicative of a characteristic of acorresponding procedure, such as the practitioner's technique during acertain portion of the procedure.

In a second example, the input procedure data 4 may include informationindicative of how a practitioner completed a pre-operative range ofmotion test. In a knee surgery, for example, different practitioners mayuse different techniques to map the patient's range of motion. The inputprocedure data 4 may include log lines describing the position andorientation of the tibia and femur during the range of motion test of acorresponding procedure. The position and orientation data can beanalyzed to determine how the practitioner manipulated the tibia andfemur during the range of motion test. The data 4 from variousprocedures can be compared to determine how different practitionerscompleted similar range of motion tests, or to determine whether asingle practitioner uses the same technique during different procedures.

In another example, the input procedure data 4 may include informationindicative of the length of time of a certain portion of a procedure.Numerous tasks may be carried out during a procedure. In a kneereplacement surgery, for example, tasks may include the pre-operativerange of motion test described above; femur preparation, which mayinclude using different tools to cut, sculpt, or otherwise modify thefemur; tibia preparation, which may similarly include using differenttools to cut, sculpt, or otherwise modify the bone; and implantplacement. Analysis of the input procedure data 4 may indicate how longeach portion and subportion of the procedure took. For example, the data4 might indicate the total length of time for femur preparation or thelength of time to complete a single bone cut.

In yet another example, the input procedure data 4 may be indicative ofthe forces applied to a bone during a portion of the correspondingprocedure. In this embodiment, the robotic device may include a forcesensor, and information related to the force sensor readings may bestored in the log file. The data 4 of the log file may then be analyzedto track force applied to the bone (e.g., by a surgical tool) during theprocedure.

Tracking systems used during procedures may generate data 4, stored in acorresponding log file, related to placement of various components inthe operating room. For example, data 4 may indicate the locations overtime of the robotic device (including the surgical tool and base of therobotic device), the guidance module, the patient's anatomy (e.g.,femur, tibia), and the tracking system camera, along with any otheritems tracked by the tracking system. The data 4 can be analyzed todetermine the location of components during the procedure.

Data Analysis

Referring to step 220 of FIG. 2, the input procedure data 4 receivedfrom the robotic medical systems 5 (or other location) may be analyzedby the procedure optimizer 10 (e.g., by executing instructions stored inthe analysis module 20). In one embodiment, the data 4 may be analyzedto determine a pattern of a characteristic across multiple inputprocedures. Analyzed characteristics may relate to practitionertechnique, length of a portion of the procedure, forces applied to bone,location of objects or people during the procedure, or any othercharacteristic that may be recognized by analyzing data corresponding toa robotic medical procedure.

The analysis module 20 of procedure optimizer 10 may includeinstructions for analyzing the input procedure data 4, initiallycontained in log files or other forms, to determine a pattern of one ormore characteristics across multiple procedures. In one embodiment, theanalysis module 20 may process the log files using a standard extract,transform, and load procedure that transforms plain text files intodatabase records. The analysis module 20 may further include statisticalanalysis processes to determine patterns in the input procedure data 4.

A pattern of a characteristic may be a description of thecharacteristic's general occurrence (or lack thereof), specific featuresof the characteristic, factors correlated with occurrence of thecharacteristic, or any other description of the characteristic. Forexample, in the example described above relating to side-to-sidemovement of a surgical tool, the pattern may be that the side-to-sidetechnique is used in 75% of procedures (e.g., the side-to-side movementwas seen in 75% of the analyzed log files). In another embodiment, thepattern may be a curve mapping the distance of a single sweep of a toolduring the side-to-side movement portions of multiple procedures. Such acurve might provide information about the average distance of a sweep ofthe tool. In yet another embodiment, the pattern may be that 80% of thepractitioners who use the side-to-side technique are left-handed.

In another embodiment, the characteristic of interest may be a techniquefor completing a range of motion test. The pattern of the characteristicrecognized by the procedure optimizer 10 may be, for example, that 30%of practitioners use a first technique, 30% of practitioners use asecond technique, and 40% of practitioners use a third technique. Thepattern may additionally or alternatively identify specifics of theimplementation of each technique (e.g., where the leg was positionedduring a certain stage of the test across multiple procedures), ordifferences between the implementation of a certain technique amongpractitioners. The pattern may additionally or alternatively identifyother information correlated with use of each of the techniques (e.g.,if certain practitioners are more likely to use a certain technique).

If the characteristic relates to time, the pattern may be the averagelength of time of a certain portion of the procedure. In anotherembodiment, the pattern may be that using a certain technique for a taskcorresponds to a shorter completion time of the task. In yet anotherembodiment, the pattern may be that performing a set of tasks in acertain order results in a faster overall completion time. The patternof the characteristic may be any description of the characteristicdeveloped by analyzing multiple procedures.

A pattern related to the forces applied to the bone may be an averageforce applied during a certain portion of a procedure (e.g., the averageforce applied during a specific type of bone cut, with measurementstaken during multiple procedures). In other examples, the pattern may bethat practitioners with more experience use different force levels thanpractitioners with less experience; that a certain technique correspondswith use of a higher or lower amount of force; or that a certainpractitioner uses different force levels depending on the setup of theoperating room.

In yet another example, the pattern may relate to positioning of objectsor people during a procedure. The pattern may be, for example, that aspecific operating room layout or size typically results in placement ofthe robotic device, patient table, camera stand, patient, or user in acertain location. The pattern may additionally or alternatively be thatcertain types of procedures are typically completed with the roboticdevice in a certain location relative to the patient or other referencepoint, or that a certain practitioner typically positions objects acertain way in the operating room.

In sum, the procedure optimizer 10 may analyze the data 4 to identify apattern of any characteristic of interest. The pattern may relate to theoccurrence, specific features, implementation, correlated factors, orany other information descriptive of the characteristic that may beuseful during development of guidance for an assisted procedure.

Assisted Procedure Information

Referring to FIG. 1 and step 230 of FIG. 2, the procedure optimizer 10may receive assisted procedure information 6 about a procedure that thedeveloped guidance will be directed towards. The assisted procedureinformation 6 may be any information about the assisted procedure,including information about the patient of the assisted procedure. FIG.3 illustrates several examples of assisted procedure information 6,including patient information 30, type of procedure information 32,operating room characteristics 34, and user's prior experienceinformation 36. Assisted procedure information 6 may be provided in anyform, such as images (e.g., of the patient or operating room), datafiles, manual input by a user, or received from patient monitoringdevices, and may be transmitted to the procedure optimizer 10 via acommunication interface 28.

Patient information 30 may include various characteristics of thepatient of the assisted procedure, such as height, weight, body massindex, bone density, bone structure, cartilage thickness, etc. Thepatient information 30 may be manually entered by a user, uploaded froma previously-existing image or text file, received from a patientmonitoring device, or communicated in any other manner to the procedureoptimizer 10 via communication interface 28. A patient monitoring devicemay be, for example, a device that monitors the patient's neural orcardiac activity.

Type of procedure information 32 may include the general type ofassisted procedure (e.g., full or partial knee replacement; hipreplacement; ankle, shoulder, or spine procedure; a procedure on a boneoutside of a joint; or non-orthopedic procedures, such as on softtissue). The information 32 may additionally or alternatively include asurgical plan with details of the assisted procedure, such as theplanned shape and order of bone modifications or which tools (e.g., saw,burr) will be used during the procedure.

Operating room characteristics 34 may include the shape and size of theoperating room and the planned placement of various people and objectsduring the procedure. For example, a surgical plan might indicate theinitial placement of one or more of the patient table; the patient; thepractitioner; other operating room personnel; the robotic device; theguidance module; the tracking system components; tools (e.g., retractorsand other objects used during a procedure); or wires, tubing, and otherequipment. During an assisted procedure, the system 5 may track any ofthese components, including portions of people (e.g., arms) or objects,using one or more tracking systems.

Finally, user's prior experience 36 may include information related tothe user's previous experience performing robotic medical procedures.Information 36 might include general information about the number ofprocedures completed by the user (e.g., that the user has performed norobotic medical procedures, that the user has performed more than one,or that the user has performed numerous procedures), or may includedetailed information about the specific procedures completed by theuser. The procedure optimizer 10 may take the user's previous experienceinto account when developing guidance for the assisted procedure.

In one embodiment, the procedure optimizer 10 may receive further inputin the form of rules. Rules may define outcomes and guidance that shouldresult when the procedure optimizer 10 receives certain input. Forexample, one rule may define that for a patient weighing over 300 lbs,the procedure optimizer 10 should never recommend an implant sizesmaller than a certain threshold. Similarly, in another example, therule may define that the procedure optimizer should not recommend animplant size above a certain threshold for a patient with a brittlefemur bone. The rules may govern any aspect of a procedure ordecision-making step.

Although the rules may be general rules applicable to many procedures,the rules may be considered a part of the assisted procedure information6 because they may apply to the assisted procedure. Rules may beconsidered and applied by the procedure optimizer 10 when developingguidance. Similar to other assisted procedure information 6, rules maybe manually entered by a user, uploaded from a previously-existing imageor text file, or communicated in any other manner to the procedureoptimizer 10, via a communication interface 28, and stored in the memory16. Rules may be developed by a manual review of literature, by ananalysis (manual or by the procedure optimizer 10) of the inputprocedure information 4, or by any other mechanism.

Guidance

Referring to FIG. 1 and step 240 of FIG. 2, the procedure optimizer 10may develop output 26 by executing algorithms stored in the outputmodule 22. In one embodiment, the output may be guidance for apractitioner to implement during the assisted procedure. Developingguidance may include generating revised robot instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the robot to provide the guidance to a user. Theguidance may be displayed on a screen of one or more guidance components24. The guidance may be based on the pattern of the characteristic ofinput procedures recognized by the procedure optimizer 10 and on theassisted procedure information 6 received by the procedure optimizer 10.

FIG. 4 illustrates several exemplary types of guidance that may bedeveloped by the procedure optimizer 10. The categories shown in FIG. 4and the examples provided below are exemplary only. Certain types ofguidance may fit into multiple categories or may fall into categoriesoutside of those shown in FIG. 4. In one example, the guidance relatesto clinical decision support 40. Clinical decision support 40 mayinclude any type of guidance intended to help a practitioner make adecision before, during, or after a robotic surgical procedure.

In one embodiment, the guidance may help a practitioner make a decisionrelated to tool movement 42. The guidance may be a recommendation tomove the tool in a side-to-side motion to complete a certain portion ofthe procedure. This recommendation might be based on a recognition of apattern, described above, that 75% of practitioners use the side-to-sidemotion. The guidance may alternatively be based on any other patternrecognized by the procedure optimizer. The guidance may be catered tothe specific assisted procedure by also being based on the assistedprocedure information 6. Thus, if a certain piece of informationcontained in the assisted procedure information 6 weighed stronglyagainst a recommendation for a side-to-side motion (e.g., if theside-to-side motion is more difficult to implement and the user has noprior experience), the procedure optimizer 10 might take this intoaccount and recommend a different technique. In this manner, theprocedure optimizer 10 may synthesize data from the input procedures andinformation about the assisted procedure to develop targeted andappropriate guidance for the assisted procedure.

In another example, the procedure optimizer 10 may develop guidancerelated to implant type 44 (e.g., an implant or component of an implantto be used in a knee or hip replacement surgery) or implant positioning.The implant type 44 may be the size of the implant, the brand of theimplant, the material of the implant, or any other features related tothe implant. The recommendation related to the implant type 44 may bebased on a recognized pattern of the types of implants used for patientsof the input procedures. For example, the guidance may be based on thetype of implant usually selected for patients with similar bone size andstructure as the patient of the assisted procedure. In another example,the implant type 44 may be based on the implant type selected for otherpatients with a similar weight as the patient of the assisted procedure.Thus, the development of guidance related to the implant type 44 may bebased on a pattern recognized in the data of the input procedures andinformation about the patient of the assisted procedure. Similarly,guidance related to implant positioning may be based on a recognizedpattern of the positioning of implants in prior procedures with patientshaving similar characteristics (e.g., bone size, structure, weight) asthe patient of the assisted procedure. In one embodiment, the procedureoptimizer 10 may receive information about the long-term outcomes ofpatients of the input procedures as part of input procedure data 4. Theprocedure optimizer 10 may base its guidance for the assisted procedureat least in part on the implant type or positioning that led to the bestlong-term outcomes for the patients of the input procedures.

Although in some instances the pattern of the characteristics and theassisted procedure information may relate to the same type ofinformation (e.g., bone structure of patients of the input proceduresand bone structure of the patient of the assisted procedure), in otherembodiments, the pattern and the assisted procedure information mayrelate to different types of information. For example, guidance relatedto implant type 44 may be based on a pattern that certain types of inputprocedures (e.g., unicondylar knee replacement surgeries) typically usea certain type of implant, and assisted procedure information about thebone structure of the patient.

In another example, the guidance may relate to the order of bonemodifications 46. The procedure optimizer 10 may have recognized thatpractitioners of input procedures of a similar type as the assistedprocedure usually performed the bone modifications in a certain order.Thus, the procedure optimizer 10 may develop guidance recommending thatthe practitioner of the assisted procedure perform the bonemodifications in a similar order. However, if other factors weighagainst performing the modifications in the same order as the inputprocedures, such as the assisted procedure patient's bone structure oreven the operating room characteristics (e.g., initial placement of therobotic device), the procedure optimizer 10 might recommend a differentorder of bone modifications.

Another type of clinical decision support guidance may be user-specificguidance 48. User-specific guidance 48 may be any type of guidance thattakes into account the experience, qualities, or other characteristicsof the practitioner of the assisted procedure. The user-specificguidance 48 may take into account information such as, for example, howmany robotic surgical procedures the practitioner has previouslycompleted, the techniques the practitioner used to complete thosesurgical procedures, the handedness of the practitioner, or thepreferences of the practitioner. This information about the practitionermay be included in the assisted procedure information 6 or may beincluded in the input procedure data 4 corresponding to procedurescompleted by the practitioner.

In one embodiment of user-specific guidance, the procedure optimizer 10may output different sequences or numbers of guidance steps topractitioners having different levels of experience. For example, duringa procedure being performed by a less experienced practitioner, theprocedure optimizer 10 may provide a greater number of surgical steps,including more details, than would be provided to a practitioner havingmore experience. Thus, more experienced practitioners may receive morestreamlined guidance during the procedure, commensurate with theirexperience. Over time, as a beginner practitioner becomes moreexperienced, the procedure optimizer 10 may reduce the number of detailsand/or steps that are shown to the practitioner during thatpractitioner's procedures. Similarly, in another embodiment, theprocedure optimizer 10 may display certain messages to beginnerpractitioners that are not necessarily displayed to more experiencedpractitioners. For example, a relevant cautionary message (e.g., about acommon but undesired action) may be displayed during a procedure for abeginning practitioner. As the practitioner becomes more experienced anddoes not perform the undesired action, the procedure optimizer 10 mightdiscontinue displaying the message. On the other hand, if a particularexperienced user might benefit from the message (e.g., because the useris performing a certain undesired action during a procedure or performedthe undesired action during a past procedure), the procedure optimizermight display the message for that user.

Another category of guidance may include operating room guidance 50.This type of guidance may relate to placement of objects or peoplewithin the operating room. Equipment placement guidance 52 may be arecommendation to place the robotic device, guidance module, trackingsystem, patient table, or any other object in the operating room in acertain location. The recommendations may be based on the positioning ofthese items in input procedures with similar operating roomcharacteristics (e.g., shape, size), and may take into account fixedobjects or other constraints of the operating room being used for theassisted procedure. For example, some operating rooms may have a patienttable that is fixed to the ground. Thus, the recommendation for thepositioning of the remaining objects may be based on the positioning ofthe fixed patient table in addition to a pattern of the placement of theobjects during the input procedures.

Guidance related to patient placement 54 may recommend that the userplace the patient in a certain direction, or may be more specific andrelate to certain specific positioning of the patient's leg or otherportion of the anatomy. For example, if the patient was positionedfacing a certain direction relative to the robotic device in priorprocedures with similar operating room characteristics as the operatingroom characteristics 34 of the assisted procedure, the guidance may be arecommendation that the patient is positioned similarly relative to therobotic device to be used in the assisted procedure. Similarly, if thepatient's leg was positioned with the knee at a certain angle at thestart of a majority of the input procedures with similar characteristicsas the assisted procedure, the guidance may be a recommendation toposition the patient's knee at the certain angle at the start of theassisted procedure.

In another embodiment, the output guidance 26 may be a recommendationrelated to user placement 56. The user may be the person operating therobotic device, or may be any other person in the operating room (e.g.,technicians, assistants, doctors, nurses, etc.). Guidance related touser placement 56 may be based on patterns of user placement recognizedfrom the input procedure data 4 and on the assisted procedureinformation 6 (e.g., the type of procedure 32, operating roomcharacteristics 34, etc.). The analysis of the input procedure data 4may have revealed that certain types of procedure are completed fasterwhen the user stands in a certain location relative to the patient andthe robotic device. Thus, for an assisted procedure with similarcharacteristics, the guidance 26 may recommend that the user stand in asimilar location relative to the patient and the robotic device to carryout the procedure.

Exemplary Workflow

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary workflow for providing guidance based onpatterns in input procedure data 4. Step 510 of FIG. 5 includes inputprocedure data 4 that may be received by procedure optimizer 10. Asdescribed above, input procedure data 4 may include any informationabout a robotic medical procedure, such as patient information receivedin any manner, information about the operating room (OR) (e.g., OR size,OR setup), pre-operative information (e.g., procedures to carry outpre-operatively, such as the range of motion test described above),intra-operative information (e.g., tracking information, locations ofthe bone to contact for bone registration), post-operative information(e.g., a desired final implant location, information fromrehabilitation), and/or information related to the surgical robot (e.g.,joint angles, tolerances, whether the robot performed correctly duringthe procedure, movements of the robot) and other devices/equipment usedduring the procedure.

The processed data illustrated in step 520 may include informationresulting from an analysis of the raw case data of step 510 and may bederivable from the raw case data shown in step 510. Processed data mayinclude values that are comparable between more than one procedure andmay aid in the determination of trend data in step 530. For example,processed data may include information relating to operating roomefficiency (e.g., how quickly the OR staff completed the procedure). Theinformation on efficiency may be derived from various types of raw casedata, such as intra-operative data related to the time of each portionof the procedure and robot data related movements of the robot.Processed data may further include information on surgeon performance(e.g., how the surgeon holds certain tools). Surgeon performanceinformation may be derived from pre-operative data, intra-operationaldata, and/or robot data, for example, by comparing a pre-operationalplan with intra-operative tracking data and information on robotmovements obtained during the procedure. Step accuracy (e.g., howaccurately the surgeon/OR staff completed a step of the procedure) maysimilarly be derived from comparing pre-operative information withintra-operative information. Patient outcome information may includecomparisons between pre-operative and post-operative data. Finally,information related to robot health (or the health of other instrumentsor devices used during a procedure), such as whether a part of the robotneeds to be replaced, determining how much a motor has been used, ordetermining whether other instrumentation needs maintenance, may bederived from raw case data related to the robot or other devices.

By reviewing input procedure data 4 and processed data from multipleprocedures, surgeons, operating rooms, hospitals, and/or regions, theprocedure optimizer 10 may determine trend data in step 530. Trend datamay include patterns that have been recognized by procedure optimizer10. Examples of trend data include surgeon technique (e.g., thatdifferent techniques are used in different regions/hospitals, thatdifferent surgeons use different techniques), case reports (e.g., asynopsis of a number of different procedures that includes informationabout the procedures, such as, for example, bone registration accuracy,a comparison of the pre-operative plan to the post-operative outcome,etc.), population health (e.g., that patients in differentregions/hospitals have better or different outcomes, that patientsreceiving a certain procedure have better or different outcomes), ORpractices (e.g., that certain OR setups, staffing, or procedures resultin better/different outcomes), feature efficacy (e.g., how well usersimplement steps of the procedure, how well a feature (e.g., a button) isworking), and/or maintenance scheduling (e.g., if the trend dataindicates that certain robotic devices or other devices needmaintenance, either because outcomes of the procedures are changing orbecause the devices have undergone a certain number of procedures).

In step 540, the trend data obtained in step 530 may be applied in avariety of settings and provided to a number of customers to provideguidance to the customer. For example, to provide guidance to a surgeon,information about patients and operational data (e.g., pre-op, intra-op,and post-op) may be processed to determine surgeon performance (e.g.,how well an implant was placed), step accuracy, (e.g., how well thesurgeon performed during bone registration), and patient outcome. Thesurgeon may then receive a case report summarizing information about avariety of procedures. Based on the information in the case report, theprocedure optimizer 10 may provide guidance to the surgeon to improvefuture procedures.

In another example, the procedure optimizer 10 may provide guidance toorganizations, such as a hospital, an insurance company, or thegovernment. The hospital may be interested in a variety of trend data,including data related to surgeon technique or maintenance scheduling,for example. In one example, a pattern related to maintenance schedulingmay indicate that maintenance is being conducted too frequently, whichmay indicate that the hospital should investigate the equipment further.

Furthermore, the systems and methods described herein may be used by thehospital to optimize OR staffing and/or scheduling. In one example, theinput procedure data 4 may include information related to the staffworking during the corresponding medical procedure (e.g., names, caseload, personality profiles, experience, etc.). In certain cases, thelocation of each staff member may be tracked during procedures using anavigation system. The trend data may include patterns related to thecomposition of the procedure staff and the clinical outcome of thepatient. These trends may allow the procedure optimizer 10 to provideguidance assigning specific people to certain procedures. The procedureoptimizer 10 further may receive information related to case schedulesof one or more surgeons and/or operating rooms. The schedule may aid theprocedure optimizer 10 in recommending certain personnel for certainprocedures. For example, for a complicated case, the procedure optimizer10 may recommend personnel who have experience in the procedure and haveoperated on patients with resulting good clinical outcomes, personnelwho have not been too busy (e.g., overworked) in previous days, and/orpersonnel who are available during the scheduled or desired time slot(e.g., in the morning). In one example, the procedure optimizer 10 mayrecommend a first OR staff team to conduct robot setup and a second ORstaff team to conduct a timeout procedure (e.g., a review of thepatient, procedure, and other details prior to the surgical procedure).

In another example, the procedure optimizer 10 may be linked to ahospital's alert system to optimize OR utilization and scheduling. Forexample, if an OR staff member does not show up to a scheduledprocedure, the procedure optimizer 10 may send an alert to thehospital's scheduling system. In another example, if a scheduled surgeontypically takes longer to perform a procedure, the procedure optimizer10 may send an alert to the hospital's scheduling system to allow foradequate planning and scheduling of subsequent procedures. In yetanother example, alerts may be sent if a surgeon is taking longer thanscheduled during a procedure.

The robotic systems 5 may include tracking methods that may aid ininventory tracking and billing. In one example, the procedure optimizer10 may receive information related to implants and other inventory to beused during a medical procedure (e.g., item number or type of implant,price, quantity available or quantity to be used during the procedure).In some prior art systems, personnel may track inventory, and billsbased on manual tracking may be submitted by a device manufacturer tothe hospital. In one example, robotic systems 5 may include an implantor other device/tool identifier, such as a barcode scanner or othervisual or radiofrequency recognition system, to validate component usage(e.g., by scanning the packaging). This information then may be used toautomatically generate and export an electronic surgical sheet toexpedite the billing process. Furthermore, the sheets may provide adynamic record of hospital inventory consumption. Tracking of inventoryalso may aid in accounting for disposable OR items, such as surgicalsponges.

Referring again to FIG. 5, an insurance company may be interested inpopulation health to aid in setting insurance rates. The government maybe interested in population health for research or policy development,for example. Population health may be determined by analyzing patientdata, pre-op information, and post-op information to determine patientoutcomes for multiple patients.

The systems and methods for developing guidance described in thisapplication may be used for training practitioners. Trend data may beprovided to device manufacturers, surgeons, or any other personnel fortraining purposes. Trends related to surgeon technique and OR practicesmay be particularly helpful for training. For example, training relatedto surgeon technique may advise a surgeon not to hold a probe in acertain position. In another example, training may include suggestionsto position an OR camera in a certain location.

The analysis of data from numerous prior procedures may illuminategeneral best practices (e.g., technique, equipment and user placement),which can be provided to a practitioner prior to or during a roboticprocedure or during other training sessions. The best practices guidancemay have been extracted by the procedure optimizer 10 during analysis ofthe input procedure information 4 or may have been received by theprocedure optimizer 10 in the form of rules or other input. Providingpractitioners with guidance on best practices may accelerate thelearning process for practitioners using the robotic systems 5.

The systems and methods described herein may further be used tofine-tune a practitioner's technique by comparing input procedure data 4from other practitioners to input procedure data 4 from thepractitioner's own past procedures. For example, the procedure optimizer10 might recognize that certain changes in the practitioner's techniquewould shorten the overall length of the procedure and may provide thisguidance to the practitioner. In this example, the guidance provided tothe trainee may be user-specific guidance 48, which is a form ofclinical decision support, the “assisted procedure” may be a futureprocedure to be performed by the practitioner, and the assistedprocedure information 6 may be information about the practitioner. Inone embodiment, the guidance provided to the practitioner may be arecommendation to watch a training video. For example, the procedureoptimizer 10 may recognize that the practitioner takes longer than otherusers to complete a certain phase of the procedure and may recommend atraining video on technique to reduce completion time.

Trend data may further be provided to teams of a device manufacturer(e.g., of a device used in the medical procedures associated with inputprocedure data 4). For example, the sales/marketing teams of amanufacturer may be interested in trends related to population healthand/or OR practices. Knowledge of these trends may aid sales/marketingteams in selling a medical device and/or advising hospital personnel howto use the medical device. The engineering team of a device manufacturermay be interested in surgeon technique and/or feature efficacy in orderto aid in design improvements to the software and/or hardware of thedevice. Finally, the service team may be interested in the trend ofmaintenance scheduling to aid in efforts to reduce maintenance.

While principles of the present disclosure are described herein withreference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, itshould be understood that the disclosure is not limited thereto. Thosehaving ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings providedherein will recognize additional modifications, applications,embodiments, and substitution of equivalents all fall within the scopeof the embodiments described herein. Accordingly, the invention is notto be considered as limited by the foregoing description.

We claim:
 1. A computer-implemented method for generating and presentinga display of guidance for performing a robotic medical procedure,comprising: receiving, by one or more processors, a plurality of priorprocedure data sets, from a plurality of robotic systems, wherein eachprior procedure data set: i) corresponds to a prior instance of therobotic medical procedure performed by using a robotic system on apatient within a population, wherein the robotic system includes arobotic tool and an electronic display, ii) defines one or more of alocation or a movement of the robotic tool involved in the roboticmedical procedure; iii) includes whether the robotic tool performedcorrectly during the robotic medical procedure; receiving oridentifying, by the one or more processors, objective data defining oneor more of a duration or a patient outcome of the robotic medicalprocedure; executing an algorithm, stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium, to identify a pattern across theplurality of prior procedure data sets, the pattern describing one ormore of a location or a movement of the robotic system involved in therobotic medical procedure, or a force applied by the robotic tool thatachieves the duration or the patient outcome defined by the objectivedata; receiving, by the one or more processors, information about aninstance of the robotic medical procedure to be performed in the futurefor a patient outside the population; automatically generating, by theone or more processors, guidance for performing the robotic medicalprocedure using the robotic system, the guidance comprising arecommended movement of the robotic tool during the robotic medicalprocedure based on evaluating the pattern identified across theplurality of prior procedure data sets and the information receivedabout the instance of the robotic medical procedure to be performed; andgenerating and presenting the guidance for performing the roboticmedical procedure on a first electronic display.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein the duration defined by the objective data is a duration of aportion of the robotic medical procedure.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein identifying the pattern across the plurality of prior proceduredata sets includes identifying an occurrence level of the location orthe movement of the robotic system across the plurality of priorprocedure data sets.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying thepattern across the plurality of prior procedure data sets includesdescribing a movement of the robotic system during a portion of aprocedure that achieves the duration defined by the objective data,wherein the duration is of the portion of the robotic medical procedure.5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the instance ofthe robotic medical procedure to be performed includes information aboutat least one of: a patient, a type of procedure, an operating roomcharacteristic, or a user's prior experience.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the guidance comprises a recommended timing of a step of therobotic medical procedure involving the robotic system, and therecommendation includes a recommended order of steps of the roboticmedical procedure.
 7. A system for generating and presenting a displayof guidance for performing a robotic medical procedure, comprising: acomputer-readable storage medium storing instructions for generating andpresenting a display of guidance for performing the robotic medicalprocedure; and one or more processors configured to execute theinstructions to perform a method including: receiving a plurality ofprior procedure data sets from a plurality of robotic systems, whereineach prior procedure data set: i) corresponds to an instance of therobotic medical procedure performed using a robotic system on a patientwithin a population, wherein the robotic system comprises a robotic tooland an electronic display, and ii) includes robot data obtained from arobotic device associated with the robotic tool; receiving oridentifying objective data defining one or more of a duration or apatient outcome of the robotic medical procedure; identifying a patternacross the plurality of prior procedure data sets, the patterndescribing a characteristic of the robotic medical procedure thatachieves the duration or the patient outcome defined by the objectivedata; receiving information about an instance of the robotic medicalprocedure to be performed in the future for a patient outside thepopulation; automatically generating guidance for performing the roboticmedical procedure using a first robotic system based on thecharacteristic identified by the pattern and the information receivedabout the instance of the robotic medical procedure to be performed,wherein the guidance comprises a force to be applied intraoperatively bya robotic tool of the first robotic system; generating and presenting afirst display of the guidance for performing the robotic medicalprocedure, wherein the first display is shown on a first electronicdisplay of the first robotic system.
 8. The system of claim 7, whereinthe characteristic of the robotic medical procedure includes a movementof the robotic system.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein the guidancefurther comprises a recommended location or movement of a patient,medical device, or robotic tool involved in the robotic medicalprocedure, or timing of a step of the robotic medical procedure.
 10. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein the robot data includes information gatheredby the robotic device during the corresponding instance of the roboticmedical procedure.
 11. The system of claim 7, wherein identifying thepattern includes determining an occurrence level of the characteristicacross the plurality of input procedures.
 12. The system of claim 7,wherein the characteristic is an order of procedure steps, andidentifying the pattern includes determining the order of proceduresteps that achieves the duration defined by the objective data.
 13. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein the information about the instance of therobotic medical procedure to be performed includes information about atleast one of: a patient, a type of procedure, an operating roomcharacteristic, or a user's prior experience.
 14. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium having instructions thereon that, whenexecuted by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method forgenerating and presenting a display of guidance for performing a roboticmedical procedure, the method including: receiving a plurality of priorprocedure data sets, wherein each prior procedure data set: (i)corresponds to an instance of the robotic medical procedure performed byusing a robotic system on a patient within a population, wherein therobotic system comprises a robotic tool and an electronic display, and(ii) defines one or more of a location or a movement of at least onepatient, medical device, or robotic tool involved in the robotic medicalprocedure; a force applied by the robotic tool; or a timing of a step ofthe robotic medical procedure; receiving or identifying objective datadefining one or more of a duration or a patient outcome of the roboticmedical procedure; identifying a pattern across the plurality of priorprocedure data sets, the pattern describing one or more of a location ora movement of at least one patient, medical device, or robotic toolinvolved in the robotic medical procedure, a force applied by therobotic tool, or a timing of a step of the robotic medical procedurethat achieves the duration or the patient outcome defined by theobjective data; receiving information about a first instance of therobotic medical procedure to be performed in the future for a patientoutside the population; automatically generating guidance for performingthe first instance of the robotic medical procedure using a firstrobotic system, the guidance comprising i) a recommended movement of afirst robotic tool of the first robotic system during the roboticmedical procedure and ii) whether the first robotic system performedcorrectly during the first instance of the robotic medical procedure,wherein the guidance is based on iii) evaluating the pattern identifiedacross the plurality of prior procedure data sets and the informationreceived about the first instance of the robotic medical procedure andiv) intra-operative data from the first robotic system during the firstinstance of the robotic medical procedure; and generating and presentinga display of the guidance for performing the first instance of therobotic medical procedure, wherein the display is displayed on a firstelectronic display of the first robotic system.
 15. The storage mediumof claim 14, wherein the duration defined by the objective data is aduration of a portion of the robotic medical procedure.
 16. The storagemedium of claim 14, wherein each prior procedure data set includesinformation gathered by a robotic device associated with the robotictool during the corresponding robotic medical procedure.
 17. The storagemedium of claim 14, wherein identifying the pattern includes identifyingan occurrence level of at least one of the location or the movement ofthe robotic system across the plurality of prior procedure data sets.18. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein identifying the patternacross the plurality of prior procedure data sets includes describing amovement of the robotic tool during a portion of a procedure thatachieves the duration defined by the objective data, wherein theduration is of the portion of the robotic medical procedure.
 19. Thestorage medium of claim 14, wherein the information about the instanceof the robotic medical procedure to be performed includes informationabout at least one of: a patient, a type of procedure, an operating roomcharacteristic, or a user's prior experience.
 20. The storage medium ofclaim 14, wherein each prior procedure data set includes informationrelated to the position or movement of the robotic system.